|
A Word From our Founder, Nenad Bach |
|
Dear PingPongParkinson Community, my dear Snowflakes:
As 2024 comes to an end, I would like to share highlights of the extraordinary year that we’ve had at PingPongParkinson, as well as announce what’s coming in 2025.
We are now 300 chapters strong in 25 countries around the world, united by our common goal to improve the quality of life for as many people diagnosed with Parkinson as possible through the benefits of this specific sport, and to build friendships and mutual support through our programming. With our World Championships (and there have been 5 so far), we are agents of World Peace and we are dedicated to leaving no stones unturned in finding the cure by 2027. #CUREby2027
This newsletter marks the beginning of a series of communications that we will publish throughout the year. I invite all chapters and all individuals to submit content, stories, announcements for inclusion in future newsletters. It is your newsletter and we are interested in your story. Take as many photos and videos—no matter how obvious something looks to you, it is still magic for many of our brothers and sisters around the globe.
I am writing this opening letter 10,000 meters above the ground in a metal cylinder. Going to the US Open in Las Vegas where a few of our PPP members, including Jan Rose, leader of the PPP New York City (who is sitting next to me) will compete in the Parkinson Event. We started to become part of the National and International US Open a few years ago, thanks to the USATT leadership, from the president Virginia Sung to Jasna Rather, Olympic medalist and USATT staff member. Now is the moment to bring this organization to another level. Yes, we conquered the fear of Parkinson as I have mentioned many times… and now that we have built a solid foundation for the past 8 years, it is the moment to build a solid tower, with our Stairways to Heaven. We are in 25 countries but there is a lot of space to improve on the present situation and open up to many more untapped places—countries, counties, cities and villages. For the first time in the USA we put our data together: PPP USA is in 22 cities, 11 states with 28 active chapters. With an approach to the USATT and this newsletter, we want to bring this number to 100 or more in the next 12 months.
Please reserve November 23-29th for the 6th World Championship. Announcement coming soon. You will love it!
May you have a peaceful, healthy, and happy holiday season.
Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, Happy Kwanzaa.
Your Snowman, Nenad
|
| | |
The 2025 Northeast Tournament will be held in Pleasantville, NY on March 1st 2025—a day that also marks the 8th Anniversary of PingPongParkinson, which was founded on March 1st, 2017. It will be held at the Westchester Table Tennis Center and will be open for anybody who wants to join us. Stay tuned for an email containing registration information in January! Direct any questions or comments to the Tournament organizer Jan Rose at jan.rose@pingpongparkinson.org.
The 6th Annual PingPongParkinson World Championship will be announced in January.
|
| | | This year we hosted our 5th annual World Championship in Laško, Slovenia, held from October 14th–19th. This year Kjell Åke Waldner and Nikola Vukelka, two world-class table tennis coaches, introduced a non-competitive component to the World Championship. We are deeply grateful to every player, volunteer and participant who traveled to Slovenia for the tournament, and hope to see you again in next year’s World Championship!
See recaps from the World Championship below: |
|  | PPP World Championship Slovenia: Opening Ceremony |
|  | PPP World Championship Slovenia: Day 2 |
|  | PPP World Championship Slovenia: Day 6 |
| | | | On November 21st our founder, Nenad Bach, was invited to give a TEDx presentation at the Zagreb Fair in Croatia, a panel with the theme "Game Changers"—leaders in their fields, people who break barriers, create new opportunities and push boundaries with their work. The full video is expected to be on YouTube in 2025 (stay tuned for more)!
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| | | October 23rd: a new PPP USA Chapter was inaugurated at the YMCA in Ridgewood, New Jersey, led by Simona Vitali-Bryant, a brilliant Physical Therapist specialized in Parkinson’s and other neurological impairments. We are incredibly happy to welcome her community to PingPongParkinson.
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| November 10th: PPP Los Angeles held its first event.
October 27th: PPP Cambridge (Boston) Chapter was established by Stephanie Chen, a master’s student in Harvard Medical School’s Biomedical Informatics program. During her undergraduate studies she founded and served as chapter lead of PingPongParkinson Philadelphia for 2 years, and has extensive experience leading table tennis sessions for individuals with Parkinson’s. We are so happy to have someone like Stephanie in the PPP community! See her Penn Medicine video, “Can Ping Pong Help Parkinson’s?” below.
|
|  | | PPP Partnerships and Diplomacy |
|  |
September 15th, Berlin: Thorsten Boomhuis, President of PPP Germany, spoke to Frank Walter Steinmeier, President of the Federal Republic of Germany and William Ruto, President of the Republic of Kenya. This is a perfect example of PPP Diplomacy.
December 4th: PPP signed an MOU collaborative agreement with Dance for PD in New York, establishing the first steps in what we know will be a fruitful relationship between our organizations.
August 11th: PPP Founder Nenad Bach was awarded with a special recognition for his short film “We Build Neurons - PingPongParkinson”, for educating millions of people on Parkinson Diagnosis at the Croatian International Film Festival 2024. The film was directed by Krunoslav Weinpert, edited by Lukas Weinpert and produced by Nenad Bach. See the video from the award ceremony here.
|
| | PPP Tournaments and Opens Around the World |
|  | New York, April 13th–14th: The Westchester Table Tennis Center in Pleasantville, New York presented a tournament sponsored by USATT (USA Table Tennis).
Germany, May 9th–12th: 4th annual German Open. Currently, Germany holds the highest number of PPP Chapters in the world, and is the largest table tennis club in Germany, with over 200 chapters and 2270 members. See highlights from the German Open here.
Portugal, July 11th–14th: PingPongParkinson Portugal Open was celebrated in Lisbon.
Switzerland, August 31st–September 1st: First PingPongParkinson Church Mountain Open in Switzerland. 8 nations were represented: Germany, Austria, Sweden, France, Spain, Netherlands, Belgium and Switzerland.
Brazil, September 21st: 4th edition of the Ping Pong Parkinson Brazil Open.
Poland, September 22nd: First PingPongParkinson Mazovia Open in Warsaw.
Spain, October 5th–6th: First PingPongParkinson Zubia Tournament. |
| US Open: On December 18th the US Open was held in Las Vegas, Nevada. We are happy to announce that the following members of the PPP Community participated: Nenad Bach from New York (PD), Jan Rose from New York (PD), Michael Downey from Oklahoma (PD) and Daniel Feng from New Jersey (a 12-year-old coach)! Nenad Bach won a gold medal in the championship, and Jan Rose took home a bronze medal. Big win for PingPongParkinson! |
| | | We are proud to share that as of 2024, PPP USA has 28 chapters in 11 states and 22 cities. Around the world, we have over 300 chapters in 25 countries… and we are expecting to grow in 2025!
Interested in starting a chapter in your local community? Email natalia@pingpongparkinson.org and we’ll be in touch starting in the new year.
|
| | | We are so excited to welcome Jan Rose to our Board of Directors. Since receiving a Parkinson’s diagnosis Jan founded the New York City chapter of PingPongParkinson, where she leads ping pong sessions, educational programs, and social events for people living with the disease.
One of our Board Members, Warren Rosenberg, just completed a course with the American College of Sports Medicine on Exercise Program Design Considerations for Those with Parkinson's. He continues to show his unwavering commitment to our community and our cause.
Learn more about Our Team.
|
| | | Our mission at PingPongParkinson is to improve the lives of people with a diagnosis by playing ping pong as a form of physical therapy. We are committed to engaging with the medical community to encourage more research that looks into the physical and therapeutic benefits of ping pong. Please consider donating to our organization and help fund our efforts going into 2025!
|
| | | | To our readers, we would love to encourage you to submit your stories or any items of interest with the chance to be featured in our periodical newsletters. If interested, please submit to newsletter@pingpongparkinson.org.
|
| | For Your Enjoyment and Inspiration |
| | | | | Thank you to everyone who has supported us this 2024, played ping pong with us, and helped raise awareness in any way about what we do and why we do it.
We wish you the Happiest of Holidays: a Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, Happy Kwanzaa, and a Happy New Year.
See you in 2025! |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| | | | | | |  |
|
|
|
| |
|
